…
Gottlieb has expressed support for strict enforcement of state
mandatory vaccination laws, recommending that state vaccine exemptions,
which allow people to opt out of federally recommended vaccines, should
be reviewed and tightened.

In a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health,
Energy, Labor, and Pensions on April 5, 2017, the nominee to be the
next commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Scott
Gottlieb, MD, stated categorically that there “is no causal link
between vaccination and autism.”1
Dr. Gottlieb serves on the board of directors of pharmaceutical
companies Tolero Pharmaceuticals and Daiichi Sankyo and is on the
investment board of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). He reportedly received
$413,000 during 2013-2015 in consulting and speaking fees from these
firms.2Dr. Gottlieb has previously publicly
expressed strong opinions about vaccination. He not only rejects a
causal link between autism and vaccines, he does not believe there is
any need for more scientific research into vaccination and the
development of autism in children. In an interview with CNBC in 2015, he said:

Clearly, these vaccines are important. The science around
a purported link between these vaccines and autism was thoroughly
debunked years ago. As early as 2002, there was a study in Denmark that
looked at 540,000 children and found no correlation. There’s been many
subsequent studies of equal magnitude. I think for too long a lot of
people’s public statements allowed these myths to propagate because
they’ve said things like, ‘Well, we don’t think there’s any correlation,
but we need more research.’ We don’t need more research. At some point,
enough is enough. It’s fine to continue to collect data, but at some
point you have to take no for an answer. We have thoroughly debunked any
association between autism and these vaccines.3

Dr. Gottlieb’s views on vaccines
would seem to be in sharp contrast with concerns that President Donald
Trump has expressed in the past and recent media reports suggesting
Trump may be proposing to form “a commission to look into the safety of
vaccines and their possible connection to autism.”4The reported proposal would reflect President Trump’s repeated questioning of whether
the significant increase in rates of autism in the United States is
tied to the growing number of vaccinations being given to children.5
In 2012, Trump wrote: “Massive combined inoculations to small children is the cause for big increase in autism.”6He
added: “‘A study says @autism is out of control—a 78 percent increase
in 10 years. Stop giving monstrous combined vaccinations.’ These views,
to say the least, are not the scientific consensus.”7
Dr. Gottlieb does not appear to support the idea of a federal mandate
to require vaccinations. “A federal mandate I think would make more
people concerned around the intrusion to decision making,” he stated in
2015. But Gottlieb has expressed support
for strict enforcement of state mandatory vaccination laws,
recommending that state vaccine exemptions, which allow people to opt
out of federally recommended vaccines, should be reviewed and tightened.
He also has expressed the opinion that adults may need to be required
to get booster doses of MMR vaccine to prevent measles outbreaks.3
If confirmed, Dr. Gottlieb, 44, would replace Robert M. Califf, MD,
who stepped down as FDA commissioner in January. During the past three
months, Dr. Stephen Ostroff, MD has been serving as interim commissioner
for the agency.8References: